Science Express- Biodiversity Special 2013

With a view to create awareness amongst masses in general and youth in particular about the exceptional biodiversity of India , the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) in collaboration with Department of Science & Technology ( DST) and Indian Railway launched last year on World Environment Day

It will be open to visitors from 1000hrs till 1700hrs and entry is free. Schools can fix appointments to visit the exhibition and also participate in Joy-of-Science lab by calling 09428405407/8 or by sending an e-mail to [email protected] A team of 40 young well trained and highly motivated post graduates in science, who remain on-board throughout the entire journey, will facilitate the visitors and explain the content of the exhibits and also answer their queries. Thereafter the train will halt at 60 more locations across India before returning to its base station- Gandhinagar Capital- on 28 October 2013.

The present run of the train is the 2nd Phase in the two phase programme envisaged to cover a minimum of 100 locations on Broad Gauge network of Indian Railway across the entire length & breadth of the country. Of the 16 coaches of Science Express- Biodiversity Special, 8 are solely dedicated to showcasing the myriad biodiversity spread across all the bio-geographical zones of India through a variety of interactive exhibits, short films & videos that are shown on Plasma & LED TV screens, large format displays, kiosks, backlit panels, and so on. The rest of coaches have interesting & informative exhibits on Climate Change, Energy and Water conservation and topical issues in science. The popular Joy of Science Lab is mounted in an exclusive coach in which students are guided to perform various experiments & activities to understand concepts of various themes projected in the train. In addition, on the railway platform where the train is halted, young visitors are encouraged to play several exciting games as well as participate in quizzes, painting competitions, elocutions, just-a-minute, etc. The window panes of the entire train have also been judiciously used to put up posters on the numerous species of flora & fauna found in India which keep the visitors engaged while waiting for their turn.